Deer hunters often use hunting blinds to hide themselves in locations on the ground near expected deer paths. The blind usually has at least one “wall” formed from natural materials at hand such as sticks and foliage, or from dull-colored blankets or burlap material hung between poles or on a frame, or from plywood or lumber. The blind may be a portable camouflaged tent, or even an abandoned appliance or vehicle to whose presence deer have become accustomed. Blinds may be but one wall between the hunter's hiding spot and the deer, or may partially or fully surround the hunter for concealment from several angles or for weather protection in the colder fall and winter seasons when most deer hunting takes place. More elaborate blinds with shingled roofs, doors, sliding or hinged windows, chairs and benches are common, permanently located for use year after year.
Because hunters have long recognized that hunting from above the deer's field of vision is advantageous, treestands are also popular, especially with bowhunters. Treestands are platforms, often of metal or plastic grating or mesh, mounted in trees. They are typically small and portable, with room for a single hunter to stand or sit. These open platforms must be used with caution, since a fall can be serious, and they often are used with safety belts or harnesses in case a hunter loses his balance or nods off in his perch. Treestands tend to be favored by bowhunters because bowhunting often takes place in warmer weather and the stands are exposed to the elements, and because bowhunters need more space to nock arrows, draw, and shoot than do firearm hunters.
One approach taken by rifle hunters has been to build tower-type blinds that allow them to sit all day in relative comfort and greater safety well above the ground. These are usually expensive, heavy, and cumbersome, and if designed to be taken down at the end of a season require significant labor and transport. Firearm hunters have also used tree-house type blinds built directly into trees.